Consumer electronics, such as a gaming system or device, may use a high-powered laser and the intensity of the laser light is reduced through the use of various lenses and/or translucent material so that the laser light is safe to shine on a person, such as on a person's face for detection and recognition implementations. If a lens or the translucent material is missing, has a hole or crack in it, or is otherwise damaged, the laser light may not be properly diffused and the intensity of the light can cause an eye injury to a user of the device. In various systems and devices, safety compliance features are implemented to verify the presence and condition of the lenses so as to avoid a laser causing eye damage, which can occur in just a matter of milliseconds. However, conventional techniques do not directly measure the presence or condition of the lenses, but rather detect a proxy component and infer the condition of the lenses. This can potentially result in false inferences, since the proxy does not guarantee that a lens was even installed in the first place, or that it was free of damage when it was installed.